


latibule

by Anonymous



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Blood and Injury, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Past Abuse, Kidnapping, M/M, Nightmares, Not Canon Compliant, Rose genuinely cares and has genuinely good intentions he's just going about it really badly, Yandere, also they're both messed up., kiiiiiinda???, leon's no longer champion but the eternatus thing never happened, movies - Freeform, the pokemon are named bc otherwise it feels like naming a dog 'dog', which i figured was obvious just by how calm leon is lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:21:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 7,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26152600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: a cozy, safe place, hidden away from everyone.well, hidden away from everyone except the man who took him here.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Rose | Chairman Rose
Comments: 24
Kudos: 13
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Taken

Leon woke up in his room with the light peeking in through the curtains.

Wait.

This wasn’t his room.

It looked like it, sure. It had all of his things arranged the exact same way. But the room itself was bigger.

The bed itself was more comfortable, with the sheets and pillows and blanket being softer and obviously very new. The room was relatively cool, while his room was almost always uncomfortably warm. Upon sitting up and getting out of bed, he noticed the dresser was bigger and the carpet was in better condition. The floor didn’t creak, either.

“‘s probably just my imagination.” He opened one of the dresser drawers only to find, no, it wasn’t. There were definitely plenty of new clothes in there along with the usual ones. There were also two doors on the other side of the room as opposed to just one.

He shrugged and picked out one of the new hoodies (black with a white silhouette of who he could only guess was Hatsune Miku on the front), a black shirt, and black pants before setting them back on the bed and going to investigate those two doors.

One was locked, the other led to a fully-kitted bathroom. He showered every morning anyway, so at least this was one more thing he could pretend was normal.

* * *

After going through his usual morning routine with a few changes here and there (he’d come to the conclusion he was kidnapped and was now being kept here for some reason), he decided to try going through the locked door again. To his surprise, it opened this time.

“Glad you’re awake! You were out for quite a while, you know, I was afraid you weren’t going to wake up.”

“Rose?” He was taken aback to say the least. “A-Are you the one who took me here?”

He nodded, grinning.

“ _Why_?”

“Well, with all of those notes and gifts you’ve been getting for the past few months, I figured you’d put two and two together.”

Leon took a moment to process before his eyes widened and he took a step back. “No.... no. _No_ . **_No_ **.”

“What are you--”

He paused, then started laughing. “This is all just a fucked up dream, isn’t it? I’ll wake up and I’ll be back home! You didn’t stalk me and leave things in my house while I slept, much less kidnap me, you just wouldn’t! You’re too kind for that. I don’t have the patience for this and this dream’s a mindfuck, I’m going back to sleep.”

He then turned on his heel, ignoring Rose’s pleas for him to _stay here, just wait a minute, I swear I can explain_ and closing the door, blocking the door with the chair from his desk and laying in bed again.

He heard Rose trying to open the door and begging him to let him in, that _he can explain everything and to please just open the door because he knows what Leon’s thinking and he promises it isn’t like that_. He just chuckled to himself and stared at the ceiling (smooth and painted white, nothing like the cracked popcorn ceiling with chipping paint he was used to).

Eventually, though, Rose just…. stopped, and suddenly it all seemed genuine. He felt a little guilty for drawing conclusions so quickly and, after a minute or two of debating, got up and moved the chair before opening the door. Rose was on his knees on the floor, looking down at said floor.

“Leon… I thought you knew better than to just--”

“You’re the one who _kidnapped_ me. Don’t expect me to be fucking peachy about the situation.” 

He frowned and didn’t even pretend to perk up when Rose stood back up.

“You wouldn’t be this angry if you just let me explai--”

“Then explain. _Go ahead_. I have all the time in the world right now.”

“I’m doing all of this to protect you. I care about you and I want you to be safe from the rest of the world.”

Leon paused and looked away. “.....how did you--”

“I _was_ stalking you. We don’t need to go over who was hurting you, he’s gone now. You won’t have to deal with any of that ever again, I promise.”

“....uh-huh. What about Hop, though? And my mom? And my Pokemon? And Gloria and the others? What do they--”

“Your Pokemon are in good hands right now. They’ll be returned to you later. As far as the others.... Your handwriting’s easy to copy. As far as they know, you’re taking a trip to another region, in disguise so you won’t be recognized, to take a break from all of the recent events. They know you won’t be able to contact them for a while, but they know you’re safe.”

He thought a moment. “Okay. When will I be allowed to contact them again?”

“As soon as you make it clear to me that you won’t tell.”

“.....look, this is a lot, we can establish rules later.”

“Fair enough. There’s food downstairs if you’re hungry. I noticed you didn’t eat yesterday.”

“No thanks.”

“It’s not drugged or anything.” Rose folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. “You _need_ to eat, Leon, I was just trying to be nice because I was hoping you’d go for it without any further insistence.”

“And what if I don’t? You gonna force-feed me or something?”

“Only if I have to.”

“Okay, at least you’re not _that_ weird.” Leon stepped past Rose and made his way downstairs.

“You’re not gonna try to leave, are you?”

“Nah, I’ve basically accepted this. At least you’re not keeping me locked in the basement or whatever.” He didn’t mind that Rose followed him downstairs, though this did mean he’d have to eat just to keep the other from intervening.

“Why would I do that? I’m trying to do what’s _best_ for you, and that would be beyond cruel.”

“I dunno. You just see a lot of kidnappers doing it in movies, and obviously this is my first time being kidnapped so I don’t really have a point of reference.” He walked into the kitchen, having to take a moment to process how much bigger it was than the one back home, then sat on the counter and looked down at Rose. “Was all of that stuff you said in your letters true?”

“Hm?”

“That you love me, you’re obsessed with me, you’d do anything for me no questions asked, that you genuinely just wanted to see me safe and happy.... You said a lot.”

“Yes, of course. That’s why I brought you here in the first place, Leon.”

He looked down at the floor. “......oh.”

“I’m not going to force you to love me because I’d rather your real love instead of forced affection in hopes I’d leave you alone, just so we’re clear.”

“....uh-huh. Why not just ask me out in person or something and reveal all of this later?”

“It’s a bad look. I’d rather the press try to budge in after we’ve gotten together, not while we’re still on our first date or whatever.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

* * *

Leon ended up having pancakes for breakfast (albeit reluctantly) and went to the living room with Rose to just chat and try and get more of an understanding of what was going on. Rose was braiding his hair while they talked, which he didn’t mind.

“So will I get to leave?”

“Leave as in interact with the others again? Yes. Leave as in go back to your old house? No.”

“How come?”

“You and Hop both need more space to yourselves. Plus I was sort of hoping you wouldn’t want to leave by that point.”

“So you want me to get Stockholm Syndrome?”

“I guess....”

“I mean, at least you’re not forcing me.” He sighed. “I... guess I’ll just have to get used to it. We’ll just live our lives and see how it goes, yeah?”

“Uh-huh.”


	2. Adjustment (sort of)

The next few days were sort of like that.

Rose made Leon food every day (though he ended up having to be force-fed twice because of his stubbornness, something that both of them hated), he was given a better explanation of the situation and, while he had a  _ lot _ of leeway with things, he was also given a set of basic rules to follow.

He couldn’t really complain. He was allowed his usual pastimes and hobbies with only a few minor restrictions, he could wear what he wanted, he could act how he wanted as long as he wasn’t hurting himself (Rose had made it clear he didn’t mind if Leon physically lashed out at  _ him _ , much to the latter’s confusion and concern), and he could lock himself in his room if he needed time to himself for a while. Though he  _ was  _ spending time with Rose, who ended up being a lot better of a person then he’d expected, and getting used to his presence.

It’d been about a week now, and he was in his room, watching a movie on his laptop (which had no internet access, but that was just a precaution. Leon couldn’t fault Rose for that sort of thing). There was a knock on the door, so he paused it.

“Yes?”

Rose opened the door and smiled a little. “It’s getting sort of late, you know.”

“Oh, I didn’t notice. Sorry.”

“It’s fine, no need to apologize. Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him before walking over and sitting on the bed next to Leon. “How are you holding up? You seem a lot less energetic and happy-go-lucky than you used to be.”

“Most of it was an act. And I just miss the others, y’know?”

“Yes, I understand.” He idly ran his fingers through Leon’s hair. “You’ve done very well given the circumstances. I was considering letting you write a letter to them tomorrow, in fact.”

He perked up immediately. “Wait, really?”

“Mm-hm. But to get to do that, you’ll have to sleep. You can always finish watching your movie tomorrow.”

Leon frowned. “C’mon, Rose, I’m about halfway through it. Just lemme finish it and I’ll go to sleep right after, I promise.”

He chuckled. “You’re starting to sound like a child.”

“All these rules make me  _ feel  _ like a child…” He pretended to pout and hugged the plush Charizard he was holding a little tighter, as if to make a point.

“Restrictions will be removed as you prove you don’t need them. You haven’t been here that long, Leon, you have to remember that.”

“Yeah, I know…”

He smiled. “Okay. You can finish your movie. I’m staying here to make  _ sure _ you go to sleep, though, okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

* * *

Rose actually liked the movie, though Leon had to explain everything he’d missed.

They didn’t get to finish it because Leon ended up falling asleep just before an important scene, so Rose just paused it again, closed the laptop and plugged it in to charge, adjusted Leon so he was laying in a more comfortable position, made sure the blanket was covering him properly, and laid down next to him.

He looked so peaceful like this, his normally expressive face completely neutral as he breathed slowly and stayed completely still. Rose had seen him like this more times than he could possibly count but he still thought it was one of the most beautiful sights in the world, only rivaled by Leon’s smile when he was genuinely happy.

He reached over and brushed Leon’s hair out of his face, tucking it behind his ear so he could see his face better.

“You’re incredible, you know that?”

No response, as expected. Rose didn’t mind. He was just happy to be here in this moment, everything calm and quiet.

He ended up falling asleep like that. He hoped Leon wouldn’t mind in the morning.


	3. Letter

Leon ended up being fine with it, and the day went off without a hitch. Leon wrote his letter while Rose made breakfast (unfortunately, he couldn’t put a return address for a reply for a myriad of reasons), they finished the movie together and watched another one, Leon played video games and doodled, and so on. Generally calm and uneventful.

Leon actually liked it.

Though while he was getting ready for bed that night, he noticed something felt….. odd. He couldn’t quite place it, but something wasn’t right.

He shrugged it off and went to bed, falling asleep a bit faster than usual.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Leon jolted awake in the middle of the night.

Rose sat next to him, seeming extremely concerned as he slowly let go of Leon’s shoulders.

He sighed, steadying his weirdly-fast breathing, and blinked, only to find he’d been crying. He wiped away the tears as best as he could.

“Leon, are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m…” He paused, playing back the events of the nightmare in his head and hugging his Charizard plushie closer. “....I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine, I know that much.”

He made a non-committal noise in response. Rose thought for a moment.

“Would you like to talk about it or do you want a distraction?”

“Distraction sounds nice.”

"Okay." He stood up, intending to grab his phone to show Leon cute Pokemon videos to get his mind off of it, but was pulled back to bed by his wrist and tightly hugged. He was startled but slightly relieved and couldn’t help but slightly lean into it, touchstarved as he was. 

“P-please stay here.” Leon didn’t notice Rose’s reaction to the physical contact, not that he would’ve cared anyway.

“.....okay. Okay, I’ll stay here.” He relaxed and returned the hug, gently rubbing Leon’s back and quietly whispering reassurances.

He yawned a little and looked away, loosening his grip on Rose but not quite letting go.

“If you’re still tired, then by all means, go back to sleep.”

“Mmm….”

“I’ll still be here when you wake up.  _ I promise. _ ”

Leon, feeling safe and comfortable like this, let himself drift off.

Rose just held him, grateful that Leon trusted him enough for this.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Leon was acutely aware of the fact that Rose was gone upon awakening. Didn’t seem like something he’d do compared to his behavior ever since he’d taken him here.

Though there was a note on the nightstand, so he sat up, blinked a few times to get his vision to focus properly, and picked it up.

  
  


_ Couldn’t stay. I told everyone it was a confidential business trip and any longer would’ve raised questions. I’ll come by to pick you up later and your belongings after that. _

_ Pack up anything you want to take with you on the first trip and keep yourself occupied for the day, okay? I made breakfast in advance, it’s in the fridge. I hope you slept well. _

_ See you tonight! _

_ -Rose _

  
  


He supposed it made sense. He  _ was  _ wondering if anyone was getting suspicious.

It felt odd to go through his morning routine without Rose chiming in now and again to remind him of various tasks. Even breakfast was uncomfortably quiet, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit unnerved at the empty silence he couldn’t do much about except tap the table.

If Rose hadn’t been so vague in his note, maybe he’d feel a little more at ease. He opted to hope for the best, even if logic said otherwise.

With that, he cleaned up and went back upstairs to pack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter? Yes, but the length of the chapter doesn't really matter as long as it flows smoothly and accomplishes its purpose in the story.


	4. i'm not naming these anymore, i have too few braincells for that

Leon was surprised at how long it’d taken them to get there (it was just starting to get dark out when they left but around 1 AM when they arrived), but was relieved to find that at least their destination was familiar.

Just…. not this specific house.

“Is this where you live, Rose?”

“Yes.”

“So then what was the last--”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

He nodded and sat on the couch, placing his bag next to him and looking around.

“I’d take you to your room, but since we left your things back at the last house, there’s nothing there…”

“Oh, that’s fine!” Leon smiled. “I can sleep on the couch or the floor or something, I don’t mind.”

Rose seemed appalled by the mere suggestion. “No no no, I wouldn’t do that to you!”

“....well, the only alternative I can think of is me sleeping with you, so….”

Leon suddenly wished he had his phone, because the bewildered look on Rose’s face was priceless.

“It’s just an option. You said you didn’t want me sleeping anywhere other than a bed, so….”

“......okay.” He sighed. “Bedroom’s upstairs on the left, second door. Go get changed into something more comfortable and I’ll meet you there.”

“Got it.”   
  


Leon was a bit too tired to be surprised at how much different Rose’s bedroom was from what he’d expected. Though…. Rose hadn’t met him here like he said he would.

He figured maybe Rose took a bit longer to get ready for bed and, after making this conclusion, actually got into bed. A bit firmer than the mattress Rose had gotten for  _ him _ , but still much more comfortable than what he used to have.

He made sure there was room for the other man, pulled up the covers a bit, and closed his eyes, not quite ready to fall asleep but pretty damn close.

So he waited.

Just as he was about to drift off (he couldn’t tell how long it’d been), he heard the door open and shut, the bed dipping down with the weight of another person behind him.

Rose curled up behind him, hugged him around his waist, and nuzzled his neck a bit, mumbling something Leon couldn’t quite make out.

Odd but…. comforting.

* * *

  
  


When Leon woke up again, Rose was gone but the room was still dark. Rolling over and looking at the alarm clock through blurry vision, he saw it was 4:32 AM. Neither of them should've been awake.

He went to get out of bed, but stopped when he noticed a furry lump curled up near the edge. Looking closer….

...it was just Rose's Perrserker.

She opened her eyes and stared at Leon, almost seeming to be contemplating something.

“Whatchya thinking?”

Rather than responding (not that she could, being a Pokemon and all), she just jumped off of the bed onto the floor and attempted to run out of the room, instead crashing into the door with a yelp.

He couldn’t help but snicker, covering his mouth with his hand to try and keep as quiet as possible.

Perrserker looked back at Leon and glared daggers at him with a low growl before standing back up and unsuccessfully attempting to open the door.

“Okay, hold on, lemme help you.” He stood up and opened the door for Perrserker, who ran out of the room and down the stairs.

He hesitantly followed, if only to try and make sure she didn’t break anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god there was only one bed  
> (not dead, just didn't have the motivation to write. also didn't know how to continue this chapter coherently so i just. didn't.)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a playlist for this fic, if that interests you: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7wepoMnbattlU2wmtq0HZr

Following Perrserker, he was led downstairs and into one of the side rooms, but what greeted him in there was…. a shock.

This was where Rose had gone, apparently.

He was kneeling in front of a large, shattered mirror, reflective shards scattered all around the floor and blood coming from the gaping wounds on his right hand, leaving bloodstains on his clothes, the floor, and the pieces of the mirror.

He seemed spaced out, not moving or saying anything and just staring blankly at nothing in particular.

“.....Rose?”

He blinked, as if breaking out of a trance, and turned to face Leon. “I didn’t think you’d be awake.”

“I didn’t think _you_ would be, either. What are you doing?”

He shrugged. “You should get back to bed.”

“I think my sleep schedule should be the least of your concerns right now.”

“What makes you say that?”

“......you’re bleeding. A lot.”

“And?”

“I-- okay, I’m not having this conversation with you.” He sighed and walked away.

“Wait, Leon, where are you--”

“I’ll be right back.”

* * *

Leon headed up to the bathroom and grabbed a small plastic tote from the shelf, pulling out bandages and  antibacterial ointment and whatnot, as well as soaking a washcloth in warm water to try and clean up all of the blood a bit.

After wringing out all of the excess water the best he could, he grabbed all of the supplies and went back downstairs, Perrserker showing him the way again since the house was way bigger than what he was used to and he got lost easily anyways.

“‘m back.”

“What did you-- oh.”

Leon walked over to the other, being careful not to step on any of the mirror pieces, and kneeled down next to him, gently holding his hand with his palm facing up and wiping away the blood with the cloth.

Rose winced a bit as he worked, though he didn’t look away.

“Sorry, but I have to.”

“I know, it’s fine.” He chuckled. “You sure seem to know what you’re doing…”

“Hop used to get himself hurt in stupid ways all the time.”

“Ah. I have a little brother who was like that. Still is, really.”

“Peony, right? I heard a bit about him when I was younger. Wonder what he’s up to nowadays.”

“I don’t hear from him often anymore, so I couldn’t tell you.”

“Huh.” He put the cloth aside and started applying the ointment. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“You’ve asked a lot since I brought you here, but go ahead.”

“Why’d you break the mirror?”

Rose paused, then looked away. “I’m... I’m not sure. I don’t even remember doing it, to be perfectly honest, I just know I did.”

He nodded, then wrapped his hand with the bandage.

It took a bit to clean up the mirror pieces and bloodstains, but the two of them managed.

Rose spent more time repeatedly apologizing than much else, though, something Leon scolded him for and frequently reminded him there was nothing to be sorry  _ about _ .


	6. Chapter 6

Leon never had a real childhood. Especially not in the normal sense.

Becoming Champion at just 10 years old and having spent many of his years before that taking care of Hop to fill in for their dead father and busy mother, he didn’t have the time nor energy for friends. Or games. Or.... anything, really.

He was only close with Sonia before he won the title of Champion because her parents were… absent, and Magnolia was very sick when she was a child. His mother often had her over so that she had an adult to watch her and make sure she was safe and fed.

So, in order to make up for that loss, he acted like a child sometimes. Rose had seen this before in his time stalking Leon, and Leon had definitely let that side of him show more often nowadays since he didn’t have to worry about being caught by Hop or his mother.

He’d color in some coloring books he had stashed away, play with his plushies, talk a bit differently, and so on.

Something Rose had noticed, however, was that in this state, Leon often defaulted to humming while he did something. It was always the same tune, almost sounding like something a music box would play, and it seemed to make Leon happy.

He liked it when Leon was happy.

So, he memorized the tune as best as he could and figured out how to play it on the piano.

  
  


* * *

Leon was…. bored, to say the very least.

He was sick of coloring for the time being, he didn’t know what to draw, his video games were getting really repetitive, and all in all? He was starting to go stir-crazy.

He’d ask Rose if he was allowed to go outside now or have internet access or something, but he didn’t want to annoy him or seem like he was nagging and possibly set back the progress he’d made.

Rose had been taking good care of him, after all, and what kind of response would it be to be ungrateful and just ask for more?

…..no. That wasn’t a good way to think.

_ Damnit, Leon, you were kidnapped! This is a terrible situation! Hop and Mom must be worried sick! And what about your Pokemon? Arceus, why are you so calm about this? Why are you  _ **_happy_ ** _? _

Leon sighed and stood up from where he was sitting cross-legged on the floor by the window. He was  _ going  _ to find Rose and he was  _ going _ to tell him he  _ wasn’t gonna just take this _ anymore and that  _ he was leaving _ , whether Rose liked it or not.

Though, once he opened the door, he snapped out of his moment of clarity and slipped back into his childish mindset. He heard music playing from one of the other rooms in the hall.

More specifically, that song he always hummed….

Weird.

He began walking around, trying to figure out where it was coming from, but stopped in front of the door on the right, just before the staircase. The music was loudest here, so it had to be coming from inside.

Carefully opening the door, he smiled upon seeing he was right.

Rose was playing the piano.

“Rose?”

He stopped and looked up at Leon. “Oh, hello. Come in.”

He nodded and walked in, closing the door behind him and sitting next to him on the piano bench. “That song you were playing…”

“It seemed to make you happy, and that’s all I want. So I taught myself to play it after hearing you hum it.”

“.....that’s… t-that’s really sweet of you.” He couldn’t stop himself from smiling now. That was just so nice and thoughtful! Rose only ever wanted to make sure he was safe and happy, and this just further proved it.

To think he wanted to leave…. Arceus, he really  _ was  _ foolish, huh?

“Well, I’m glad you think so. I’m guessing I got all the notes right, then?”

“Mm-hm!” He nodded. “Y’know, my mom used to sing that song for me when I was little. I had a lot of trouble sleeping.”

“Well, that part hasn’t changed much.” Rose chuckled.

“Then I got too old for that. So then she sang it for Hop, but she stopped years ago.”

“Ah. Do you remember the words, or just the tune?”

“Just the tune.” He looked down at the floor. “Even if I did know the words, I wouldn’t sing them.”

“How come?”

“I don’t…. I don’t actually like my voice.” He looked back up at Rose. “But it’s fine. Enough about me.”

“No no no, talk as much as you like.” He paused. “Unless you don’t want to say anything more. Which is fine, too. Whatever you’re most comfortable with, really.”

“....uh-huh. Thank you, Rose.”

“Hm?”

“Thank you for being so nice to me and taking care of me. I know I was mean at first, but it really does mean a lot.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all!” He smiled warmly. “And it’s okay, you weren’t mean, you were just confused and stressed and scared and all of that. That was a normal reaction and I don’t blame you for it. It’s all my fault, anyway.”

“It’s not your fault. You were nice from the start.”

His smile fell. “Leon, you have to remember that I stalked and kidnapped you. It’s fine if you’re angry, it’s fine if you hate me, that’s all  _ normal _ . Don’t blame yourself for having common sense.”

“But still.”

Rose sighed and just shook his head. “Okay. I understand.”

“.......could you play it again?”

After a moment, he nodded. “Of course.”

When he started pressing the keys of the piano again, Leon couldn’t have felt more happy and at ease.


	7. Chapter 7

As nice as that interaction was and how happy Leon had been, things started to go downhill. Fast.

Leon’s stir-craziness turned to lethargy and homesickness, and he was spending most of his days in bed, flipping through books without actually reading them and looking through pictures he had saved on his laptop, only getting up to do things when Rose all but forced him to.

Obviously, this was concerning, especially considering his situation just before Rose had taken him here, so he came up with an idea to make him feel better.

Leon was very obviously spacing out right now, his eyes unfocused and his breathing shallow but steady. Rose simply sat in bed next to him, rubbing his back and going over what he was going to say one more time in his head.

“Leon?”

“Hm?”

“I… I know things are hard for you right now. And I know it’s going to be a long while until things get better. No matter what I do, your pain is mostly mental and there’s not much I can do directly.”

Leon just made a non-committal noise.

“I’m still going to help you the best I can, okay?”

“Mmm. Do you trust me?”

“Not…. not fully. Not that I’d ever trust anyone fully.” He chuckled a bit. “I do trust you, yes. Which is why I’ve gotten something for you.”

Leon looked over his shoulder at Rose. “Oh?”

“Mm-hm. Sit up for a second.”

Leon did as told, watching as Rose pulled something out of his pocket.

“.....a burner phone?”

“I’m going to let you call a few people of your choice. I’m going to leave the room while you do so and let you have your privacy. I trust that you won’t tell and that you won’t do anything to break my trust.”

Leon lit up almost immediately. “I won’t, I promise! I would never…”

Rose smiled. “Good. Now, before I give you this, who do you want to call?”

He thought for a moment. “....do I have a limit?”

“No more than 5 people. Just for convenience's sake.”

“.....my mom and Hop. Raihan…. Piers…. and Sonia. Is that okay?”

Rose handed him the phone. “Again, I’m trusting you right now....”

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

With a final nod, Rose left the room. He had to feed his Pokemon and get some paperwork done anyway.

He just hoped this would help Leon a bit.

* * *

About two hours later, Leon said bye to Sonia and hung up on his last call for the night.

Mentally exhausting because he hadn’t had so much interaction in one day for Arceus knows how long? Sure. Had those interactions boosted his mood way more than he could express at the moment? Absolutely.

A fair trade-off in his opinion, especially since they’d all bought his story about wanting to go almost completely off the grid for an indefinite amount of time and didn’t push it too much.

…...maybe Rose would let him call them more often.

Probably not the best idea to get his hopes up.

He’d go talk to him about it. It couldn’t hurt.

The only issue now would be finding him in the labyrinth that was this house.


	8. Chapter 8

The only sound in the room was Rose clicking his pen.

Of course, when you’ve been staring at the same mind-numbing papers for 2 hours straight, you can’t help but get a bit fidgety.

He looked around the room a bit before sighing and continuing to fill out the paperwork.

Out of nowhere, the door slammed open and he jumped, dropping his pen.

“Sorry, did I scare you? I really didn’t mean to….”

He cleared his throat and picked up the pen. “N-no, it’s fine. It’s fine.”

Leon raised an eyebrow. “Did you just stutter?”

“.....no.”

Perrserker yowled indignantly from across the room, as if to call him out on his obvious lie.

“Okay, fine, yes, I stuttered. What significance does it have?”

“None, I was just curious. You don’t seem like the type to stutter.”

“Yes, because speech impediments are limited to specific people with specific personalities. That’s  _ definitely  _ the case.”

“No, that’s not what I--” He sighed and shook his head. “Nevermind.”

“Not that I even stutter anymore, it went aw--” He stopped, realizing he was thinking out loud, and looked back over at Leon. “Nice to see you. I’ve been driving myself insane in here. What brings you down here? I figured you’d go to bed after you were done with your phone calls.”

“......nothing. I just wanted to see you.”

“Leon, you’re a worse liar than me.” He gestured toward Leon with the pen as if to emphasise his point.

“....okay, I was wondering if the calling privilege was a one-time thing. That’s all.”

Rose stared at him for a moment before smiling and chuckling a bit. “With how much happier you look? Absolutely not.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I would never lie to you. You really should get to bed, though, it’s getting quite late.”

Leon, deciding to be a bit defiant, smiled back. “Not unless you get to bed, too.”

“Leon, you know I have things to take care of.”

“Yes, I do. And I also know you have a habit of giving yourself less time to work on things than you need. You need a break right now, you can always go back to your paperwork when you wake up.”

Rose didn’t have a response for that, instead opting to look away. Suddenly that small crack in the wall was very interesting.

“So, what’ll it be?”

“I-- okay. Fine. You win.” He got up from his desk, pushed the chair back in, and went to leave the room with Leon when Copperajah, who’d been resting on the floor near the desk, pulled him back by the edge of his jacket with her trunk. “....nevermind.”

Leon chuckled a bit. “Seems like Copperajah doesn’t want you to leave.”

“Seems so.” He yelped a bit as he was then tugged to the floor, and Leon couldn’t help but find the bewildered look he was giving the Pokemon hilarious.

He then felt something sharp against his ankle, looking down to see Perrserker pressing her claws against him and apparently trying to push him forward. “What--”

A low growl convinced him to listen, and it wasn’t long before he was sitting next to Rose with a visibly-annoyed Pokemon in front of him.

“Rose, are your Pokemon  _ setting us up _ right now?”

“It… it would appear so, yes.” He shot a glare at Perrserker. “Cheshire, you fluffy bastard, I told you--”

“How come you haven’t told me any of their names? I may as well get acquainted with them, since I’m going to be living with you.”

“...it slipped my mind. I apologize.” He turned his attention back to Cheshire. “I will chide you later, fuzzball.”

Cheshire almost looked smug.

* * *

They slept there that night, and despite not being in bed, Leon was still quite comfortable and happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE POKEMON ARE IN ON IT  
> I REPEAT  
> THE POKEMON ARE IN ON IT
> 
> "Author, you write too many falling asleep scenes!!" No such thing.  
> Just kidding, there is such a thing and this fic is the definition of such thing. Things just aren't worth mentioning during the day because it's all so repetitive.  
> Well, it has been. Stuff's going to get interesting soon.  
> I apologize for this being short, I just didn't wanna stretch out the scene too much but felt like it was too noteworthy to scrap.


	9. Chapter 9

The following morning, Rose didn’t make much for breakfast, which Leon appreciated since it meant less he had to eat.

Rose still didn’t understand what his aversion to food was about, but he’d made a mental note to actually discuss it with Leon at some point and was doing his best to accommodate it in the meantime. He didn’t like forcing Leon to do anything, but he  _ had  _ to eat and even a little was better than none.

“So, Leon.”

“Hm?”

“I know you’re sick of staying inside, so I was wondering… how would you like to take a little walk? Just you and me.”

“ _ Really? _ ” He paused. Even he was taken aback by how excited he sounded.

“You should know by now I don’t make offers I don’t plan to follow through on, silly.” He chuckled. “There was something I’ve been meaning to give you anyway.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, but you’ll have to wait and see. Meet you again in 20?”

Leon nodded and left the room, Cheshire following him to make sure he didn’t get lost on the way back to his room.

* * *

Leon had probably thought too hard about what he was going to wear for the day just to go with the usual teeshirt/jeans/hoodie/sneakers combo he always did nowadays, but he decided it actually wasn’t all that important. He’d also put his hair up in a ponytail.

Rose was dressed much more casually than usual, the most notable thing to Leon being his pinkish-grey sweater that was a bit oversized, but he still looked good. It was nice to actually see him wearing something comfortable for once.

_ Wait, what? Good? _

Nevermind. Acknowledging someone’s appearance doesn’t mean anything.

Rose had led him out into the backyard and onto a dirt path into the woods. A scenic route, apparently.

Rose insisted on holding his hand the entire time so he didn’t accidentally wander off and get lost.

“It’s nice to be outside again.”

“Yes, I figured. You haven’t stopped smiling since we first came out. Not that I can blame you, all things considered…”

“Yeah. What made you decide to let me outside?”

“I just thought you could use some fresh air. You’ve been stuck inside for quite some time, and before all of this you used to go outside every day. Obviously the change was taking a toll on you.”

“Oh.”

“As well as the thing I was planning on giving you that I mentioned earlier. There’s a clearing not too far from here, we’ll stop there.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “You sure seem to know your way around here.”

“I’ve had plenty of time to explore.”

“Still, I’m not sure why you picked the woods. Couldn’t we get caught?”

“Technically this part is private property. Anyone else here would get charged with trespassing.”

“....I guess that makes sense.”

“And I figured you wouldn’t mind some nice scenery.”

He nodded a bit and looked around as they stepped into the clearing. Rose let go of his hand (Leon noted how weirdly uncomfortable he felt now) and pulled something out of his pocket before handing it to Leon.

An Ultra Ball.

Leon stared at it for a moment before looking back up at Rose with wide eyes. He simply nodded and smiled.

Cautiously, Leon sent out the Pokemon inside, only to immediately be tackle-hugged by his beloved Charizard, Waffle.

It took a good 30 seconds for him to process what had just happened.


	10. Chapter 10

That interaction went about as well as you’d expect. Which is to say, well as long as your standards for such are low.

After a relatively short-lived happy reunion, Waffle almost immediately tried to attack Rose and only  _ didn’t  _ because Leon attempted to physically hold him back. And despite Leon’s repeated reassurances that Rose wasn’t bad and that this whole arrangement was for Leon’s own good, he stayed angry.

Leon sent him back into the Pokeball after telling him they’d sort things out later and didn’t say another word the entire walk home.

* * *

“Leon, are you okay?”

“Mm.” He looked away, opting to pull on the drawstrings on his hoodie rather than answering Rose’s question.

The two were on the couch in the living room now, and they’d been home for around an hour, but Leon was still clearly upset by what had happened earlier.

“Leon.” He gently pulled his hands away from the drawstrings. “Look at me.”

He did as told.

“ _ Are you okay _ ?” He asked a bit more firmly this time, but he kept his tone calm. He didn’t want Leon to think he was angry.

“I…. I don’t know.” He sighed and looked away again. “I don’t know. I-I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He let go of Leon’s hands. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“.....not really. I just-- I didn’t expect Waffle to react like that. I thought maybe he’d understand.”

“I can’t exactly blame him, none of this is conventional. Especially with how stressed you must have been when I’d started stalking you…” He fidgeted with his sleeves a bit. “Hindsight’s 20/20 and I’d apologize for doing all of that, but what’s been done has been done.”

“I appreciated all of the gifts, that’s all I’ll say.”

“Ah.” He started to say something else, but before he could finish the first word, his phone began ringing. “Sorry, um, I have to take this.”

“It’s fine, take as long as you need.” He smiled and nodded understandingly. Rose  _ was  _ still the chairman, after all, and while he’d been able to have others take care of most things, he still had responsibilities he couldn’t shake off. “I’ll head back to my room now.”

Despite his habit of getting lost, he managed to get there without help purely thanks to mental autopilot.

Closing the door behind him, he let Waffle out of his Pokeball.

The Charizard took a moment to get his bearings, then huffed, clearly still not happy with the situation. Leon, now calmer, took a deep breath and again tried to convince him this was for Leon’s own good.

Though he wouldn’t admit it, it was actually mostly to himself. If Waffle, his partner Pokemon since  _ childhood _ , felt something was wrong, something had to be wrong.

* * *

He may not have been very convincing, but Waffle had seemingly agreed to at least tolerate the situation and he’d sufficiently staved off his worries for the time being, so it was good enough.

The Pokemon was now taking a nap on the floor next to Leon’s bed, and Leon was flipping through a book (granted, he wasn’t actually reading it, he just needed to do something with his hands).

Then, a knock on the door.

“Oh, come in.” He set down the book as Rose opened the door. “You look sad, what happened?”

“I have to go on an actual business trip for two weeks. I’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

If Leon hadn’t already set down the book, he probably would’ve dropped it out of pure shock.

“Wha--”

“I’m sorry, Leon, I wouldn’t leave unless I had to. This is important.” Rose sighed and leaned against the doorframe. “You’ve done very well in your time here and I trust you, so while I’m gone, I’ll allow you to have internet access so we can stay in contact. I admit I already forgot where I put your burner phone and that wouldn’t have quite cut it anyways.”

“......ah.”

Leon wasn’t sure how to feel about this.

“We can discuss it more later, if you’d prefer.”

“Yes, that sounds nice.”


	11. Chapter 11

“Are you sure you can’t just stay home, Rose?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I wouldn’t leave unless this was absolutely mandatory, which it is.” He closed the trunk of the car, having finished loading everything he’d need and turned to Leon again. “Waffle, Cheshire, and Cocoa will be here to keep you company, I left you something in your room, and I’ll video-call you every night, okay?”

“....okay.” He nodded.

“Do you remember the rules?”

Leon thought for a moment. “Try not to stay up too late, try to remember self-care things, no going anywhere but the backyard if I go outside, eat three meals a day even if they’re small….”

“....no changing the password on your laptop, no going into rooms I haven’t given you permission to, and don't tell them what's going on when you talk to the others,” Rose finished with a smile. “It’s okay, I know keeping track of these things can be a lot.”

“Mm. I’m gonna miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you too, Leon. Don’t worry, I promise I’ll make up for this when I get back, okay?”

“....okay.”

Rose hugged him tightly. Leon tensed up for a moment, surprised, but then relaxed and leaned into it, hugging back. He felt happy and safe like this.

“.....I love you, Leon.”

It was quiet, sure, but he’d definitely said it.

Rose hadn’t openly said "I love you" since the letters while he’d been stalking Leon. Leon couldn’t help but smile and hug him a bit tighter.

He couldn’t say it back. While he did care a lot about Rose and valued him a lot, he didn’t love him.

_ Not yet, anyway. _

They stayed like that for a few more moments before Rose pulled away and chuckled. “I have to get going now.”

“Mm, okay. Bye.”

“Bye.”

* * *

After Rose left, Leon went back to his room only to be a bit surprised by the large Wooloo plushie on the bed next to Waffle, who was asleep.

So that was what Rose had been talking about.

He got onto his bed, careful not to wake up Waffle, and opened up his laptop, which had already been connected to the internet.

While he loaded up the Discord login page, he grabbed the Wooloo plushie and hugged it. It was very soft, probably made at least partially from actual Wooloo wool.

The clicking of the keys as he entered his login must’ve gotten Waffle’s attention, because as he hit enter, the Charizard nudged his shoulder with his head.

He chuckled and pet Waffle a bit. “It’s gonna be just you and me for a while.”

With that, he turned back to his laptop. He had a lot of unread messages to catch up on.


End file.
